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Colorado flood: A long way to rebuilding

Mitigation reviews slow permit process, but Boulder County says it wants homeowners prepared for another disaster

By Whitney BryenLongmont Times-Call

Posted:
01/26/2014 08:00:00 AM MST

Sarah Holloway and Paul Ingersoll had not slept in their own bed since September's floods, so when their contractor told them in mid-December that they could be in their home by the end of March, they were elated.

The Little Thompson River ripped through their farm north of Longmont during the flooding. About two feet of water poured into their home, a workshop was undercut, and their barn disappeared.

The river rerouted and gouged a 100-foot-wide riverbed through Holloway and Ingersoll's three-acre pasture, before returning to its original channel, which is not on their property. The garden Holloway had been tending for 10 years was washed away.

Sarah Holloway describes the damage done to her home during September's flood.
(Lewis Geyer/Times-Call)

When they fled floodwaters, they left their llama in their barn because it would not leave. When the water receded, the barn was gone but their llama lay dead where the barn once stood.

Then came the work of starting over. The couple spent hours on the phone with insurance representatives, filled out stacks of paperwork for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and worked with a contractor for weeks to finalize rebuilding plans. They were counting down the days until they could return home before another unexpected barrier brought their rebuilding plans to a halt.

"It was like a light at the end of a very long, dark tunnel," Ingersoll said. "Our contractor applied for the permits to start rebuilding, and then there was another hoop we had to jump through. Enough is enough."

When the couple's contractor applied with Boulder County for building permits in mid-December, he was informed that the property and flood damage first needed to be assessed by the county. Because their unincorporated Boulder County home suffered severe flood damage, the couple was required to complete the county's hazard mitigation review before a permit could be issued.

County Commissioners adopted that process in October. It includes new regulations for rebuilding after the flood, said Planning Division Manager Kim Sanchez.

"We want to make sure we're rebuilding in a sustainable way," Sanchez said. "Our main goal is to make sure we're not setting them up for a disaster like this again."

The first floor of Holloway and Ingersoll's two-story home is stripped down to the studs, except for the upper kitchen cabinets, which were high enough to avoid the mud and water that poured in.

As Holloway gave a tour of her damaged home on Jan. 16, she pointed to mud on the pantry door that marks how high the water was.

The couple estimates that refurbishing the lower level of their 2,800-square-foot home will cost at least $200,000, "if we can ever start the work," said Holloway.

The couple has been renting a Longmont condo since they were displaced. They are grateful for a place to live despite the cramped space they share with their dogs, Boomer and Oscar.

Ingersoll said that it was early January before a senior planner from the county could come out to their home to assess the damage, because of limited staffing over the holidays.

Shortly after that visit, the couple received an emailed document from the county, giving them recommendations based on the assessment. Those options were: "Dry-floodproof" (make watertight) the exterior of the house; build a berm or a floodwall; or "do nothing."

The couple's contractor estimated that the dry-flood proofing or the floodwall would add $10,000 to $20,000 to the cost of their repairs, an amount the Ingersoll and Holloway considered too high.

The foundation of this workshop was washed away during September's flooding.
(Lewis Geyer/Times-Call)

So, because "do nothing" was one of the options, they wrote back, telling county officials that they would develop their own flood-proofing plan with their contractor.

Rather than issue a permit, the senior planner who had conducted the assessment asked Ingersoll to provide plans for the flood prevention tactics that the couple was discussing with their contractor.

That reply frustrated the homeowners, who by then had waited almost a month since first applying for a permit. They called the county to complain.

"We were planning on doing some flood prevention in our rebuilding plans anyway, but the recommendations made by the county were not feasible for us," Ingersoll said. "They were too costly and heavy-handed, and it's not like anything could have prevented what happened anyway."

On Jan. 15, the couple received an email from the county restating the options from the original recommendations and stressing the consequences of doing nothing.

"The do-nothing approach may have long term consequences regarding future flood insurance rates and obviously would not assist you in the face of a future flood, but the options are there for you to choose from," the email stated.

The email also stated that the couple did not have to provide plans for the flood mitigation they are discussing with their contractor and that the couple would be allowed to proceed with their building permit.

However, Dave Webster, project engineer for the county, told the Times-Call on Thursday the county was still "discussing how to handle the situation."

The severity of the flood slowed the county's process as well, he said, as staff has had to discuss how to each particular case.

"This was far greater than the 100-year flood event that we plan for, so applying those standards that we usually would, didn't seem appropriate," Webster said.

So far, 40 property owners have begun the hazard mitigation review process, according to Boulder County employees, and four rebuilding permits have been issued. County officials are anticipating that applications for permits will increase this spring.

As of Friday evening, the couple had not received notification that their building permit had been approved, and they were unsure when it would be issued.

"I feel in my heart that the county is not deliberately trying to make our lives difficult," Ingersoll said. "But when it comes to supporting citizens in true need, (the bureaucracy) causes them to stumble and, in general, make things worse than they need to be."

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